Reif to co-chair renewed US manufacturing partnership

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At the invitation of President Barack Obama, MIT President L. Rafael Reif will co-chair the administration’s renewed Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), dubbed AMP 2.0, the White House announced today.

By bringing together industry, universities and the federal government to identify and invest in key emerging technologies, AMP 2.0 aims to “create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance America’s global competitiveness” to strengthen domestic manufacturing, according to a White House press release.

“AMP 2.0 is a vital step in securing the future of America’s innovation economy,” Reif says. “I am grateful to President Obama for entrusting me with the responsibility to co-chair its steering committee. It will be my great honor to represent the MIT community in this important effort.”

The new AMP committee — which Reif will co-chair with Andrew Liveris, president, chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical — will build upon progress made by the inaugural AMP committee, initiated by Obama in 2011 and co-chaired by former MIT President Susan Hockfield and Liveris.

As outlined in its findings last year, Hockfield’s committee called for a national effort to strengthen America’s advanced manufacturing sector and sustain U.S. investments in science, technology and innovation. Suggestions included establishing a National Network of Manufacturing Innovation Institutes to accelerate the development of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies; upgrading community college workforce-training programs and recruiting veterans for manufacturing jobs; and improving the climate for manufacturing investment through tax, regulatory, energy and trade reform. Several of these recommendations have been implemented in some form.

The new AMP committee will function as part of the federal Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Working closely with federal departments and offices, the committee will help implement the previous committee’s recommendations and advance promising manufacturing workforce innovations. In addition, the committee will engage the broader manufacturing community through regional working sessions and forums on building U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.

AMP is a public-private partnership of industry leaders, federal agency heads and university presidents from MIT, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, Harper College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, South Central College, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Akron.

Along with Reif and Liveris, the new AMP committee includes:

Wes Bush, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman Corp.

Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan

David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell

Nicholas Dirks, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley